RDCO replacing park Caretakers

[occasional thoughts]

Do we want to get started on the RDCO's Alternative Approval Process and related legal ad in the Capital News yesterday?

[gman313]

Do we want to get started on the RDCO's Alternative Approval Process and related legal ad in the Capital News yesterday?

[Balance]

Keep Caretakers in The Parks
Contributed - Nov 2, 2016 / 3:27 pm | Story: 179889
What is happening with our Regional Parks and why are the Directors of the RDCO, and our Kelowna councillors on the Board, not answering serious questions about the changes that are being made?

Resident caretakers are being evicted from regional parks as of November 30th including Mission Creek, Bertram Creek and Woodhaven in Kelowna; Kopje and Reiswig in Lake Country; and Gellatly in West Kelowna. Why is this happening? Several people in the community have been asking this question for the past six weeks and we are no closer to an answer than we were six weeks ago. There are many questions about the wisdom of this decision, the process through which it is being implemented, and the future plans which seem to be shrouded in mystery. These are just some of the many questions:

1. Why is there such a lack of transparency about our publicly owned parks? What is the basis for this decision, what are the plans for the parks, and why is the Board and its staff refusing to answer questions at a public board meeting?

2. Why are our Councillors not asking for a clear accounting of the bylaw enforcement and policing costs that will be downloaded onto municipal systems when there is no onsite oversight of the Parks? Five caretakers will be removed from parks within the Kelowna City Limits. Why are the Kelowna Councillors not questioning this decision on behalf of park users and neighbours of the parks?

3. Caretakers were put in the parks originally because of a record of vandalism and misuse in the parks— what has changed in Kelowna or the Okanagan in general? If anything the threat of misuse and the danger of fire is worse.

4. How will the valued cultural heritage assets in the parks (the Raymer-Burbridge cabin and flume in Woodhaven and the Gibson House in Kopje as well as Gellatly) be appropriately protected without onsite and resident caretakers?

The RDCO administrators and managers are proposing to dismantle the resident caretaker program that has been in place since the early 1970s, a program that was developed for the parks originally because of many incidences of vandalism, misuse and abuse in the parks. As recently as 2014 in the Johns Family Nature Conservancy plan, caretakers were at the heart of the management plan for a new park. What has changed in less than two years? Why is the Board refusing to hear from the people? I have twice requested to be a delegate to the Board to present a petition with over 700 signatures and I have been denied. I have appealed those decisions but I have not yet heard back.

The caretakers do more than open and close gates. They protect the animals, plants and neighbourhoods in and around these special parks. We shouldn’t be changing the policy around this program without a proper assessment of its value and a transparent and open discussion about the future plans for the oversight and stewardship of the parks.

People who would like to get updates on the push to get answers and to preserve the resident caretaker program, can go to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/keepcaretakersinparks/ or sign the petition “Keep Caretakers in Regional Parks” at change.org. And contact your RDCO Directors and keep asking why this is happening.

Nancy Holmes
http://www.castanet.net/news/Letters/17 ... s-in-parks

[forumdoug]

Do we want to get started on the RDCO's Alternative Approval Process and related legal ad in the Capital News yesterday?

I initially had no problems with RDCO in-sourcing of the Crime Stoppers program from the Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers Society, which will likely be disbanded, as they already provide the funding for the RDCO coordinator that works with the Society. That said, there seems to be a pattern of RDCO continuing to try and "stretch its tentacles," if you will, and maintain its arguably very bloated bureaucracy. So, I definitely think a campaign against this AAP is worthwhile; however, because it encompasses so many municipalities, one would need to get nearly 16,000 signed forms. :(

And, they sat on this - the Board approved the in-sourcing of the Crime Stoppers program back in August of this year (no media out reported on it, including Castanet, sadly) and they didn't bring forth the AAP until now so as to "bury" it and cause as little disruption and ensure its passage. :(

On the plus side of the RDCO using the AAP, part of me wants to see the City of West Kelowna approach the RDCO about borrowing the $7.7 million for its municipal hall facility through the RDCO, leveraging RDCO's balance sheet and taxation base, with the City of West Kelowna paying to lease at market rates and the option to purchase and/or assume debt at a mutually agreed upon price down the road. It'd be essentially a "win-win" for both sides, with RDCO generating some extra non-tax revenue and West Kelowna able to skirt the problematic AAP/referendum process for its low population by requiring nearly 16,000 signatures to turn out against the RDCO's borrowing and lease arrangement with West Kelowna. ;)

On this topic though, I remain opposed. :)

Cheers,
Doug

Edit: Corrected the misspelling of the word "tenticles" to "tentacles" as it was a typographical error on my part, for which I apologies. Thanks to "occasional thoughts" for pointing this out to me via PM! :)

[Balance]

A letter from Sharon Simpson. …..so great to have this good sense addressed publicly.

"The regional district board’s decision to remove the caretakers from a number of regional parks is an astoundingly short-sighted decision. The rationale of “standardizing after-hours security” makes little sense, given the history, location of the parks, and the enormously valuable community asset that is being left unattended. I had the privilege of working with the regional district administrator Al Harrison during the time I was chair of the board. Most of the parks in question were acquired because of the quiet determination of Al and the respect in which he was held, as he worked with the various individuals and communities to ensure valuable parcels of land became regional parks and not development sites. Both those who intend to do harm, and those who want to enjoy the park, know that the onsite caretakers makes an enormous difference to both of them. The original decision to have caretakers was made for a very good reason."
~ Sharron J. Simpson, Kelowna

http://www.castanet.net/news/Letters/18 ... rs-evicted

[Balance]

Would LOVE to fill the hall with food, people and conversation!

The Burbridge Dinners
February 2, 6:30-8:30
Benvoulin Heritage Church
ALL welcome

Dear “Keep the Caretakers” Petition Supporter: As noted in my last update, the regional parks in the Central Okanagan are still facing the removal of all resident caretakers in this upcoming year. Without any proper explanation or consultation, in spite of all the expressed concern and dismay, the Regional District of the Central Okanagan (RDCO) still plans to cut services to these parks. They have ignored our demands for explanation; they refuse to change their minds about this reduction in service; they refuse to hear from us at all. So what next?

You are invited to the FIRST Burbridge Dinner, named after Jim and Joan Burbridge who helped save Woodhaven Nature Conservancy in the early 1970s and who stewarded the park over the next 30 years. We’d like to honour their legacy as effective, community-focussed citizens. The goal of the upcoming community conversations this spring will be to converse and plan for action around the public good and local places.

If you can attend, please bring a potluck dish that could feed 4 or 5 people. Also, bring a plate, a cup or glass, and a drink (non-alcoholic) though we’ll provide water, coffee and tea. We’ll have cutlery and serviettes and the use of a small warm-up kitchen. If you can donate anything to help cover the rental of the hall, that would be most welcome, but this is NOT essential. Please rsvp as soon as possible to [email protected] as this can help us plan. You can come prepared to just talk and add to the conversation or you can come prepared to jump in and do things!

The topic of conversation for this first dinner will be how we move forward on the Park Caretaker issue. As an update: our elected officials still refuse to have a delegation to present a petition with 100s of names. The RDCO has denied my request under their Freedom of Information Policy for a copy of the Board’s in-camera discussions on this issue (which they admit have taken place). I have started a provincial FOI appeal but it could take months for a decision.

We realize that there are many issues in our community where Council and Regional Boards are simply not listening, especially when people are trying to hold them accountable to their very own commitments around transparency, protecting the environment and public lands, valuing cultural heritage and legacies, and representing all people in the community. We hope that these dinners will continue to grow and provide a forum where we can plan how to take positive and constructive action and where we can work on innovative ways to protect important places and good policies in our community. And we hope to have some fine conversations. I am sure that you could contribute to this.

Sincerely,

Nancy Holmes
[email protected]

https://www.change.org/p/regional-distr ... u/19083836

[Balance]

It's not going away……

More shenanigans

http://www.castanet.net/news/Letters/18 ... s-in-parks

Keep caretakers in parks
Contributed - Feb 21, 2017 / 2:01 pm | Story: 189490
On February 9th, the RDCO Board approved the Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Management Plan. To their credit, this version of the plan responded to many public concerns; however, one of the concerns about the Plan was the removal of the resident caretaker from the park. This complaint is not even noted in the Plan document as one of the items raised by the public.

Curiously, the audio recording for this particular board meeting is “unavailable.” I wonder if the Board raised the Park Caretaker issue with the Parks Department at that board meeting on February 9th. The presentation of the Woodhaven Management Plan was the first time there could have been a public opportunity to discuss the new management strategy for the parks after the dismantling of the resident caretaker program with Board. However, there wasn’t enough notice for me or others to attend and certainly not enough to request to be a delegation. I have three times requested to be a delegate to speak to the issue of the resident caretakers in the parks and three times I have been denied the opportunity. The reason I was given was that there was no relevant item on the agenda for me to speak to. Is it not “Catch 22” that I can’t be a delegate unless there is an item on the agenda but the agenda is only released a few days in advance and I have to apply to be a delegate two weeks in advance?

Nevertheless, the Board has had plenty of feedback about this park caretaker issue. They should have been able to bring those community concerns around the management of the park to the table. I wonder if any Board member asked why there is no resident caretaker planned for Woodhaven, a park that has benefitted from this kind of management since the early 1970s and what the answer to that was. Certainly they never seem to have an answer to why this program is being dismantled and the services to our parks are being cut. Sign a petition: https://www.change.org/p/regional-distr ... onal-parks and get updates on this issue.

Nancy Holmes

[Nancy Holmes]

The audio recording of the February 9th RDCO Board meeting suddenly appeared after I complained about its unavailability. When the Woodhaven Management Plan was presented, not a single board member took this opportunity to talk about the park's stewardship plan. In fact, it was made clear that for at least the next five years, the Burbridge cabin could remain empty and vulnerable and there will be no on-site oversight. Not one board member spoke up to address community concerns around the dismantling of the park resident caretaker program even though they have all received several complaints and requests for rationale. This new management plan would have been exactly the right time to have a public discussion. I am very disappointed.

[wanderer]

I have lived too long in this town, this province. When things like this happen I wonder what the "powers that be" don't want us to see. When forestry back roads were decommissioned I wondered what the prov. government didn't want joe bloe to be a witness to in the backwoods? Now taking caretakers out of parks I wonder what RDCO and the city don't want the citizens to witness. What is the plan down the road that suddenly they will present us with, what things that we would have known about had there been eyes in the park?

[Balance]

Good point 'wanderer' …….. 'Look, a squirrel" alternatively, "never mind that man behind the curtain".

On another note, what an amazing meeting in Lake Country last night. Solid group that recognized the much bigger issues at play.

[just popping in]

Update - Petition was finally delivered to RDCO:

https://www.change.org/p/regional-distr ... u/19523834

[lightspeed]

I have lived too long in this town, this province. When things like this happen I wonder what the "powers that be" don't want us to see. When forestry back roads were decommissioned I wondered what the prov. government didn't want joe bloe to be a witness to in the backwoods? Now taking caretakers out of parks I wonder what RDCO and the city don't want the citizens to witness. What is the plan down the road that suddenly they will present us with, what things that we would have known about had there been eyes in the park?

Sasquatch.

[just popping in]

Recent update - RDCO is listening.

https://www.change.org/p/regional-distr ... BNfKgs%2ft

[Balance]

"The very first day of the "new regime" without park caretakers illustrates exactly why hundreds of us in the community are asking for the reversal of this decision to remove park caretakers.

Most of Bertram Creek park is closed because, functioning without caretakers, there was a bad flood affecting the park facilities and beaches. It is rumoured there is a backhoe in there doing something to the creek. A caretaker on site could have warned the Parks of the dangerous state of the creek. But nope. We have this potential environmental and asset damage on the very first day of the park’s opening."

https://www.castanet.net/news/Letters/1 ... rks-fiasco

[Jflem1983]

Is the problem that is such a sweet gig . They don't want to be seen as handing out nice homes in parks to friends . I can see that being why they went away from this in the first place